MANY have criticised the government, especially the Health Ministry, claiming poor management of the pandemic. Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah seemed to have received the most brickbats.
This is the same D-G who was profusely praised earlier in the pandemic. Are such criticisms fair? Small businesses are among the most vocal critics.
This is understandable, since they have been badly bruised as a result of the lockdowns and various movement control orders enforced to reduce infections.
Yet, infections have not shown any sign of abating. Some blame the emergence of new more infectious variants, especially the Delta variant. Some have blamed the public for not following standard operating procedures (SOP).
Netizens, on the one hand, are riled up by leaders who have not been adhering to the SOP. There have been loud calls from netizens about double standards.
Such confusion has given rise to distrust in the authorities among the public. If left unchecked, this can develop into more vicious outcomes, which we should all avoid.
In desperation, there are those who have recommended the use of untested medicine. The Health Ministry has rightly cautioned about the danger of such recommendations since evidence on the safety and efficacy of the drug has been scanty, at best.
For all such criticisms, we should first recognise the fact that the pandemic is an unusual health phenomenon, which has caught the world by surprise.
Even developed economies, which logically should be equipped with the most advanced health system, have not been spared by the onslaught of the virus, which has brought the systems to their knees.
What more developing countries, where the health infrastructure is not as advanced. Even the World Health Organisation has admitted to not being fully prepared. Most of their initiatives have been introduced through trial and error.
The fact that the virus keeps mutating makes the situation even more complicated. The bottom line is that all countries have been pushed into unfamiliar territory, much like fighting in the dark.
The last major pandemic, the Spanish Flu, took place more than 100 years ago. The battle has become more difficult with conspiracy theorists spreading panic through social media.
Those who were less well informed became confused and lost faith in the system. These were the same people who did not follow the SOP.
When Malaysia was doing comparatively well in the early months of the pandemic, Dr Noor Hisham received a lot of praise. Even internationally, he was credited with managing the epidemic well compared with other countries around the world.
Little did we know that new waves of infections would follow. The truth is, everyone was learning how best to deal with the virus. We still are learning new things every day.
It is a mistake to equate the current pandemic with other recent cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome and other microbe attacks. We must be fair in our criticisms. Whatever it is, experts see vaccination as one possible solution, not so much to eradicate but more to live with the virus.
It is unfortunate that even vaccines, which have produced positive outcomes in some countries in the West, have been ridiculed by conspiracy theorists.
Vaccine hesitancy has proven to be a major challenge for the government, apart from the uncertain vaccine supply.
As expected, there were criticisms against the government in the vaccination drive, claiming to be too slow and unorganised. The government more than responded to such criticisms by upping the rate of vaccination.
And despite the odds, our vaccination rate is among the highest in the world, exceeding 400,000 doses a day.
In order to achieve that feat, the number of vaccination centres was increased and expanded. Other measures include roping in the private sector.
The result has been outstanding. There are indications that we may reach the 80 per cent vaccination level to achieve herd immunity before the end of the year. The government deserves credit for such a feat.
The writer is a professor at the Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy Studies, UCSI University